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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wave · spring · plane · file · stock · row · degree · net

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. row — a line
  4. spring — of water
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. stock — goods
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stock — shares
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. degree — from a university
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — the season
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. net — after costs
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. row — to paddle
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — in sport
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com